Chairman and the Ranking Member, the whole committee here, senator barrasso, senator carper, you have an introduction to make also. We will do that. Lets recognize senator carper because he will be coming back and doing his a little later. Very briefly, welcome to this important hearing, i think the chair and Ranking Member for putting this together and giving us a chance to say something, i ask unanimous consent him if i come back and give it live later this morning i will do that, good to see you, thank you for joining us this is important stuff. I want to thank all of you for being here today, thank you for your help in getting this together. I have taken counts, the last one other than you and me, retiring this year, that means you and me. I hope that is not a message. We did coming, working together in a bipartisan way of accomplishing things, looking forward to working with my colleagues who worked in legislation benefiting users for Transportation Networks and the economy. Since donald trump did in office we have seen 3 growth in the economy, 2 million jobs, Consumer Confidence skyrocketed but the economy will only continue to grow if our infrastructure is maintained, expanded to meet future needs. In 2015, 18 billion tons of freight, 19 trillion moved over highways, rail raids, these numbers are expected to grow with Freight Movement. By 2045, an estimated 37 trillion. When freight is divergent around structurally deficient bridges or awaiting movement in our ports or waterways, estimated 27 billion annually, increased costs borne by his this is raising prices on consumer goods. The more delays we see that further behind we will become. According to the World Economic forum, the us ranked 12th in infrastructure quality and American Society of engineers we heard several times from scored our infrastructure as d plus earlier this year estimating we need to spend 2 trillion in the next 10 years to improve infrastructure in the overall economy. The last Congress Passed authorizing 305 billion over five years and established 6. 3 billion freight Formula Program to invest in freight projects on the national highway Freight Network, first time that has been done, creating 4. 5 billion to improve the safety and movement of freight. The largest transportation authorization in a decade, we close the gap between funding and needs, look forward hearing from Witnesses Today and enjoy meeting individually and reminding Mister Parker we in the state of oklahoma and the best kept secret is we are identical. Senator cardin. Thank you for reminding me how long we have been here. Appreciate that very much. We have been friends since we first came to the congress in 1987 and i thank him for his dedication, willingness to find ways to move forward particularly on infrastructure, it is a pleasure to work with you on the subcommittee that deals with infrastructure with his of this committee. Todays topic is critically important, Freight Movement, assessing where we are now and where we need to go, this nation was built by the fact that we were able to build an economy and our infrastructure was critically important to develop the economic strength that we all are so proud, the us Freight System depends on the multimodal system of infrastructure. Roads are critically important for our trucks, rail is important for our freight moving by rail. Yesterday i had a meeting of the maryland delegation with the new acting ceo of a sx. We talked about freight issues including the challenge in baltimore with a total double stack and incredibly important to maintain and strengthen our rail. We talked about the waterways, Mister Thomas in regards to the port of baltimore and the importance that is to movement of freight and our pipelines. Certainly our airports. Our airports are becoming more congested and it is an important part of our freight. The next 30 years our Transportation System which powered the rise of the nation with generations of Economic Growth become a drag if we do not Pay Attention to investing in americas infrastructure. We know how many hours a week are wasted in transportation through trucks stuck in traffic, try to get through the Washington Area on any day even on weekends, becoming difficult, even in the middle of the night. I went home yesterday morning from here to baltimore and it took me longer than it should have to get home to baltimore. There is congestion and we need to do a better job dealing with that, trucks lose 28 billion in wasted time and fuel per year. We have major tensions to pay, facing severe congestion, the cost of moving freight and fuel on inland waterways, ports need dredging and modernization if they are going to sustain jobs in the regional economy, transit systems the estimate is 100 billion in maintenance backlog in the transit system. I can attest to the need for maintenance, companies depend on the nations Transportation System and those who power these companies will feel these effects. Multimodal freight Transportation System is essential despite advances. I applaud the leadership of this committee that provides Funding Sources for these programs. We need to build upon our success in this committee to provide the where with to modernize infrastructure. I am going to highlight because Ranking Member, what aspect, Mister Thomas is here, let me take the opportunity to brag about the port of baltimore and the importance to our economy. We are one of four ports on the east coast that has the depth and width necessary to take on the new shifts coming through the panama can now. That is an important part of the economy. A 50 foot container, we look at statistics in the record, the entire number in regards to the port of baltimore. Let me point this out, 13,650 direct jobs in the port of baltimore, 20,000 jobs linked to port activities, the port is responsible for 3 billion in individual wages and contributes 310 million in state and local tax revenue. And we cant do it on our own. And on the floor of the United States senate, we all know investing in infrastructure, will not only build the tools necessary to build the economy but create jobs of the future that we need to support nature the future of this nation. I look forward to hearing from the disinterest panel and for being here. Senator carper, happy to defer to you so you dont come back later. Appreciate you doing that. The port of baltimore, wilmington, delaware, my staff was good enough to drop off of prop, told them we are not only the top banana but importing crews and dropped off, that is not true but dropped off the package of prunes. After the experience of the last few days, and on a serious note i want to say when i gave my floor statement talking about ingredients that are part of the nurturing environment and job preservation and access to foreign markets. And roads, not just rail and all the above. And to pay for this stuff, we had this reluctance to pay for this stuff and the challenge is to figure out costeffective ways that leverage nonfederal moneys, state and local moneys, and that is the challenge. It is important having gone through a period when tax reform, and the month to come in the right way, do it together. And a much better job, what mark twain used to say, confound our critics and many of our friends. Mister chairman, i would like to say a few words in todays hearing, assessing where we are and where we need to go. And i think Ranking Member cardin and chairman inhofe for holding this hearing, everyone benefits across the bridges and ports, the freight industry allows for americanmade products to go to the coasts and across the world. This will underscore the need to upgrade and maintain highways and shipping lanes, addressing the aging infrastructure is a shared bipartisan goal, the Public Works Committee holding 7 hearings on the boards of modernizing americas infrastructure, rural and urban communities, new innovative Building Techniques being used, and cut government red tape and get building project started and finished faster. As well as the success of low leveraging programs the taxpayers get the most bang for the buck. Donald trump made for examination as roads, bridges and rails a top priority. In january the administration will outline its broad vision for infrastructure. We have a unique opportunity ahead of us to pass major infrastructure legislation, grow our economy and help ensure health and safety of every american, look forward to partnering with donald trump and members of the committee as we work to improve america as roads, bridges, water systems, dams and ports which i would like to introduce chris spear who served as president and ceo of the American TruckingAssociation Since july 2016, a longterm friend with extensive wyoming connections and pleased he has been invited to offer his expertise at the subcommittee hearing, he attended the university of wyoming where he and his bachelors and masters degree and sits on the board of directors for the university of wyoming center for global studies, began his career with the senate in 1993 working as a professional staff member for wyoming senator out simpson. He can see understand it or nz, 1998 he was nominated by donald by president george w. Bush and confirmed by the senate as an assistant secretary of labor policy in the United States department of labor and also served as Deputy Representative of the Coalition Provisional authority in iraq and was awarded the Us Department of Defense Joint civilian service medal. In 2004 he entered the private sector of Honeywell International and Hyundai Motor company. In his current role as president and ceo of American Trucking associations he leave the efforts to advocate and educate on behalf of the trucking industry. He knows how vital freight transportation is to the economy and how states like wyoming depends on an industry that employs upwards of 7 Million People and is responsible for moving 10 billion tons of freight annually. There is no better expert to discuss how to better move americas economy forward, we look forward to hearing your testimony. Thank you. Senator cardin. I am happy to have david thomas here today, he was named deputy executive director of logistics, support operations for the Maryland Department of education, maryland port administration. In december 2016. David has been with the port 60 years and has a distinguished record and understand all the operations of the port under his current responsibility and includes facility maintenance, terminal operations, cruz operations and intermodal logistics. We are pleased that he is here and his expertise for maryland and help us better understand the challenges we have in moving our commerce through our ports. He received his bachelor of science degree from tauzin university, one of the Great Schools in maryland in 1982 and business administration, two children, one is in for still, maryland. Thank you, the other two witnesses that have not been introduced are tim parker junior, chairman of the committee, in tuscaloosa, and mark polandsinski in the regional council. We start with the Opening Statement and ask you to confine your remarks to five minutes. And we will start with you and work across. Chairman and Ranking Member and chairman thank you for the introduction and members of the subcommittee i appreciate the opport we are grateful to each of you for recognizing freight in the previous two authorization bills in this important federal response. This has proven this to as as a freight sector will need to move 5 billion additional ten over the next decade. Thats a a 40 increase. This year alone trucks will move 71 of the nations freight tonnage come with more than 10 trillion. Yet our national Highway Network is rapidly deteriorating, costing the average motorist nearly 1500 a year in higher maintenance and congestion expenses. Highway congestion at more than 63 billion to the cost of freight transportation each year. In 2015 Truck Drivers sat in traffic nearly 1 billion hours, equivalent to more than 362,000 drivers sitting idle for an entire year. Most concerta, and 53 of high highway but holidays, condition of the roadway is a contributing factor. The Highway Trust Fund is projected to run short of the revenue necessary to maintain current spending levels by fy 20201. Creating a huge fund gap that could force states to cancel or delay critical projects. The u. S. Spends less than half of what is necessary to address these needs big as investment gap continues to grow, so will the number of deficient bridges, roads, bottlenecks and most critically the title days attributable to an adequate roadways. The proposed solution is to build america fund, the fund would be support with a new indexed 20 cents per gallon the built into the price of transportation fuels collected at the terminal rack which would generatemi nearly 300 340 biln new revenue over the first ten years. This proposal would stabilize the trust fund and resource project backlog. However, we recognize over time the fuel tax is a diminishing revenue source. To that end we encourage the subcommittee to implement a ten year plan that identifies and longterm stability for the federal a program with new, more sustainable user fees. Ada recognizes that trucks are the one part of the supply chain that we rely on our era, water and Rail Partners to keep theco supply chain moving smoothly and efficiently. And were grateful for the resources provided specifically for freight projects in recent legislation. We urge you to retain those programs and increase funding for freight while maintaining that share currently dedicated to highway projects. Particularly freight in a mobile connector roads deserve dedicated funding. Grading greater connectivity between the modes and more efficient and safer movement. Finally, try to want to state our unequivocal support for continuing a strong federal role in funding and overseeing highway improvements. States are not waiting on congress to act. Several have adoptedn funding schemes that total class viii trucks only to fund their roads and bridges. Representative schiff pays dearly half of the tap into the truck Highway Trust Fund and is willing and ready to pay more, we consider such states schemes is nothing more than a policing of our industry. Other states have chosen regulatory regimes redundant of existing federal standards such as californias duplicative meal and rest breaks, refer to here in washington as f4a. These burdensome barriers are elevating safety risks to the motoring public while lining the pockets of highly inefficient tollbooth operators and trial lawyers. That is trucking revenue that would have been spent on driver pay, training and purchasing safer, more environmentally friendly equipment. Federal inaction hasas allowed states to create a maze of added complianceom costs that impede r industries ability to grow and support our nations economy making state preemption a top priority of trucking companies. Rights in support of devolving responsibility fails to acknowledge the constitutional obligation to support interstate commerce and those benefits that extend beyond jurisdictional boundaries. The gps heat maps tracks the movement of freight. These illustrations underscore how it isnt a local state or regional problem as much as rhetoric tries to suggest but a federal issue with serious economic and security implications i applied this committee for its razor focus a committed partner to help each of you and your Senate Colleagues produce the infrastructure bill in 2018 that republicans and democrats and the American People can be proud of. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Chairman and Ranking Member thank you for allowing me to share my views. With the council of governments with the coalition of the gateway. And with that infrastructure as a metropolitan organization for the region has final authority overall federal spending on surface transportation. With the nationally significant bridge that is the linchpin on the i 75 trade core door that connects michigan to miami and carries over 1 billion of goods every day. But but it is suffering due to structural deficiencies and overcrowding. Around 750 million annually with wasted time and fuel. The common Commerce Clause with those interstate commerce 77 of all freight crosses straight state lines but they cannot shoulder investment to improve that. It is a down payment but more is needed to keep pace that as a percentage of gdp spending on what it does on infrastructure that formula dollars to have complex trade projects is limited recognizing this a muchneeded Grant Program to target large fray and highway projects and competitive programs encourage and incentivize not to get involved with 800 million in fy in fy 16 and leverage 3. 6 billion of